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Dubai 2.0

I just got back from an amazing week in Dubai! Although it was a business trip, it felt more like a vacation :)

I arrived to Dubai International Airport on Saturday September 5, and after checking into my hotel, I decided to visit one of my favorite places in Dubai...The Dubai Mall. I spent a few hours at the mall, going into different stores including my favorite store, Sephora. I had dinner at my favorite restaurant, Nando's...I haven't had Nando's in over 3 years, and when I saw their logo at the mall, I almost cried....I was going to have the most delicious dinner at my favorite restaurant.

The following day, and for the rest of the work week, I was at the office from 9am till 6pm, yet I have never felt more happy or excited about going to work than when I was in Dubai.

I always went out after work, and on my second day I went to Mall of the Emirates. I needed some comfortable shoes, because I was walking a lot in Dubai. So Toms was my first option...comfortable shoes for a good cause :) I got 2 pairs and another pair of shoes at Naturalizer. For dinner, I decided to have breakfast food at IHOP... eggs, hash browns, bacon and pancakes, with orange juice.

On my third night, I took the metro to Dubai Marina station, and from there took the tram to JBR (Jumeirah Beach Residence). I walked to a place called The Beach, which is overlooking the beach of JBR, with restaurants on the other side. People were swimming at night, some were jogging, and others were sitting in restaurants having dinner. I walked along the beach, and never felt more peaceful than in that moment. I love walking on the beach, especially at night.
After the walk, I decided to have dinner at The Cheesecake Factory followed by desserts at my favorite macaroons boutique, Laduree.

Tuesday night was spent at Atlantis hotel. I visited the aquarium, spent some time looking at the beautiful and majestic sharks, and for dinner I decided to treat myself to a lovely dinner for one at Nobu; a well known worldwide Japanese restaurant, where you can spot famous celebrities. I had a delicious 3 course meal with a glass of rose wine. The food was amazing, the place was crowded, and no, I didn't run into anyone famous.

On Wednesday, I went to The Dubai Mall again. That night I decided to see the fountain show at The Dubai fountain. It was a beautiful show with the water dancing to the beat of Michael Jackson's Thriller. For dinner, I had Nando's again...I can never get enough of Nando's! After dinner, I decided to go shopping; there's an entire section at the mall called 'Shoe District' where you can find every designer shoe brand. I ended up getting a lovely pair of Louis Vuitton boots :)

On Thursday, I finished work around 2:30pm and decided to head out early. Since I was by myself, I didn't really have any places in mind to go to, and it was too hot to go to the beach. I decided to go to Mall of the Emirates that night. It was an interesting evening...first, I got lost inside Harvey Nichols trying to find the exit...the store is huge and on 3 levels. I was glad I found the exit, otherwise, I would have bought the entire store...
Then I decided to spend an hour at Sephora, almost bought the entire store, and went to one of my favorite designer stores that had a 70% sale and came out with 4 tops. I took a break at Cinnabon, which was right across from Virgin Megastore...I thought I would check out Virgin Megastore, but first I had to make a stop at Tiffany & Co to get an early birthday gift for my mom. Tiffany & Co was on the second level, so I went up, bought the gift and went back down to the ground level to visit Virgin Megastore. Somehow, I got lost and was going in circles trying to find Virgin Megastore. It took me 30 minutes of walking in circles, asking 2 different security guards and looking at the directional maps to find the store. I'm usually good with directions, but the mall was huge and I was tired....bad combination.

Friday was my last full day in Dubai...and I had a mission to see all of The Dubai Mall. I wanted to walk all around the mall...we're talking about the biggest shopping mall in the world. I managed to do that after walking for 20 kilometers (12.4 miles) for 12 hours...from 10 am until 10pm. It was a fun day. I did so many things...first I had a good breakfast, then I walked until 1pm until I discovered an indoor theme park inside the mall. There, I went on so many thrill rides including a roller coster, another ride where you are flipped 360 degrees in the air several times, race car driving and 3D rides to name a few.
I discovered there was an actual real life airplane inside the mall...I couldn't believe my eyes...I was standing in front of a huge airplane at the mall. I saw a gold Lamborghini inside one of the stores and a red Ferrari race car inside the Ferrari store.
After the theme park, i decided to visit the aquarium and do the behind the scenes tour, where they tell you about the different species they have at the aquarium.
When it was lunch time, I treated myself to a lovely lunch at L'Entrecote De Paris.
Continuing my journey around the mall, i walked for a few hours and shopped before it became an urgent need for me to find a chair to collapse on...luckily I did find one. My next stop was Magnolia Bakery for dessert and tea, followed by the Dubai Fountain again. I watched two shows, then decided to do something new....I was going to visit the tallest tower in the world...Burj Khalifa.

I bought my ticket for At The Top:Sky, where I get to see beautiful Dubai from the 148th floor. The elevator ride was quick, almost a minute from level 0 to 124, and from there you take another elevator to the 148th floor.

The view of Dubai at night was amazing! It was incredible! Everything looked so small from the top. I was lucky enough to see the fountain show again from the 148th floor :) You can spend 30 minutes at this level, then you go down to the 124th & 125th level, and you can spend as much time as you like. I think I spent over an hour at Burj Khalifa, looking at the beautifully lit Dubai....

The week I spent in Dubai was wonderful, and although I spent it by myself, I actually had fun and I can't wait till I go back to Dubai...

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